


Unshadowed

by tigerlady (shetiger)



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-08
Updated: 2010-01-08
Packaged: 2017-10-14 14:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/150007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shetiger/pseuds/tigerlady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even if they must obscure it, their love is unshadowed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unshadowed

Radek has learned to be wary of surprises. Granted, sometimes the unexpected brings good things-–such as the arrival of reinforcements from Earth while being besieged by Wraith–-but most times, he likes to know what is coming before it smacks him in the face.

Finding Elizabeth waiting for him in his quarters is a surprise he likes very, very much. She looks up as he enters and smiles at him before returning to her attempts to kindle the wicks of his nearly-spent candles. She is wearing a dress he has not seen before, a sleeveless, fluttering thing that dips deep in the back. The red material hugs her hips and then flares so that it is a soft fall around her ankles. Radek simply stares for a long moment, captured by the way her dark curls contrast with her pale skin, by the play of the muscles in the graceful curve of her arms–and most of all, by the fact that she is here, with him.

"I thought you said you had important work tonight," he says when she turns back to him at last. "That you could not be disturbed." He takes two steps forward so that he can take her in his arms. She holds him close for a long time before stepping back so that they can see each other's eyes.

"I wanted to make sure we had some alone time," she confesses with a mischievous grin. He appreciates her deviousness, but rues the necessity. Taking time for the little things is not so easy in Atlantis, especially when Elizabeth is the one who must oversee every problem they encounter.

At least, Radek had assumed this is one of the little things, but Elizabeth is looking at him in a way that makes him wonder. She stands on her tiptoes to brush a cinnamon-glossed kiss across his lips, and something _not good_ tightens in his stomach.

"Did I forget something?" he asks warily, afraid of disappointing her.

To his amazement, Elizabeth blushes.

"No," she says, smile turning rueful. She takes his hand and leads him to the low couch. Perches beside him on the edge of the cushions. Her eyes are lambent with excitement, shining from more than the candlight, yet there is something tense and nervous in the way she holds herself.

"Elizabeth, is something wrong?"

She squeezes his hand. "I'm sorry, I'm doing this all wrong. I just wanted this to be-–Well." Squaring her shoulders, Elizabeth takes a deep breath. Radek holds his. "Remember that Ancient database you discovered last month? I finished translating it Monday."

Radek nods, though he could not be more puzzled. He expects to learn this kind of thing in regular briefings, not during a romantic evening together. "That is excellent," he tells her, for it is. He's proud of her skill, and any knowledge they can glean from Atlantis is always good. "What does it say?"

"It's full of tracts on their culture and societal customs," she says with a large smile. Radek smiles with her, though he can't control the wave of disappointment–they still have not found a way to make ZPMs. Elizabeth is radiant, however, and he wonders what could be so marvelous.

"I want you to look at one of them with me," she says in a rush, almost breathlessly. "Not for Atlantis or scientific curiosity or the betterment of humanity. Just for us."

Eyebrows climbing, he nods. Elizabeth leans forward, retrieves her tablet from the small coffee table. Silently she hands it to him, and silent she stays as he scrolls through the open file. At first, it makes little sense to him, a melange of words without context. But then he reaches her notes-–so precisely worded, so clinical and detached–-and his stomach begins to writhe, his heart begins to race as a glimmer of illumination breaks through.

Radek swallows hard as he reaches the end of the file. His hands are clumsy as he returns the tablet to the table, the plastic casing knocking and banging against the wood before he finally gets it settled.

"Does this mean what I think it means?"

She nods, a blush racing up her throat. "We don't have to do it, of course. And it doesn't really mean anything even if we do–-"

"It means everything," he promises, pulling her to him. The position is awkward but the kiss is sweet and full of passion. Elizabeth sags in his arms, and he finally realizes how truly nervous she had been. "When do you want to start?" he asks, wanting to reassure her of his conviction.

She laughs into his neck. "I already have." Still snugged in close to his body, she waves behind herself towards the table. Radek squints in the dim light, and for the first time he notices several sheets of paper nearly hidden by the fringes of his lone houseplant. "It's not the same, of course," she continues. "But I'm not about to take on Ancient sonnets, and I didn't think you'd want to, either."

He stretches as much as he can without disturbing their embrace, and is just barely able to snag the paper. "No, no, this will do," he says, smiling as he sees the first words on the page.

  
_four simple words  
draw forth feelings unknown  
you are the loop_   


His smile fades as he continues reading, overcome by the truth of her feelings in her own words, in her own hand.

"Elizabeth, I cannot do this justice," he says at last. "I am an engineer–-"

"Will you at least try? It doesn't have to be good." She slips the papers from his fingers, setting them aside. She laughs. "Mine aren't any good. But from what I understand from the treatise, that doesn't matter. The important part is the intention."

Radek cups her cheek. "Of course I will try." Smoothing his thumb over her parted lips, he bends to whisper in her ear. "I only wish that I had a ring for you."

She tenses again. "Radek, I can't–-"

"Shhh," he soothes, "I know, and it still doesn't matter. I love you."

Everyone on Atlantis knows of their relationship, but it is something small and accepted, something given little thought in a world where they are constantly in danger. But that doesn't mean the politicians back home would understand if Elizabeth married someone under her command. Radek will never willingly do anything to weaken her position, even if it means he must be satisfied with a simple Ancient ceremony.

"I love you, too," she says, her voice husky, and Radek thinks he will not have time to begin his stanzas right away. She stands, holding out her hand, and Radek follows as his wife-to-be leads him to bed.

Today, surprises are a very good thing.


End file.
